"My name is Levi Hall, and for the past ten years, I have been living the life of a homeless drug addict with a serious alcohol problem. I have been trying to turn this around for quite some time now, with less-than-satisfactory results," Hall writes as he reflects on his recent 2-year commitment to the JUUST Living community.
JUUST Living opened its doors last week and comes as the result of tireless work by START's Rev. Ruth Rinehart, who is committed to serving people who have experienced years of addiction, early trauma, and a revolving door in and out of jail.
JUUST Living, located in Lakewood, CO, utilizes a Unitarian Universalist model of long-term residential healing. The community's practices are informed by permaculture principles and dedicated to social enterprise (in this case, a moving company and food truck!) as foundational to the healing work of recovery.
Bringing life back into a former youth shelter that stood empty for five years, the work of so many volunteers in the community brought love to the first residents. Based on the robust Delancey St. model, which has been successful for almost 50 years, JUUST Living is working to raise operating costs for two years, and welcomes the investment in community brought by donors and volunteers.
New resident Amber Murray writes: "Here at JUUST Living on Day 2, and I got to say, it's freaking amazing! Even better than I had hoped. My hope is to stay in this program doing one day, one step, one year at a time."
